Cal falls to Washington 21-13

In a game of inspired defense and terrible offense, Cal came up short in a 21-13 defeat to Washington on Friday night at Memorial Stadium, thus insuring coach Jeff Tedford his second losing season in the last three years.

The Bears fell to 3-7 with games remaining against Oregon and Oregon State.

It had Tedford to see a recruit he thought he had, safety Shaq Thompson, intercept a pass for Washington in a key juncture in the game. His 33-yard return of a wildly errant pass by Zach Maynard set the Huskies up at the Cal 28-yard line with 6:13 left in the game.

Two minutes later, Bishop Sankey ran one yard into the end zone to give the Huskies a 21-13 lead at 4:11.

On Cal’s first play following the Washington touchdown Maynard was hurt on a run and was replaced by Allan Bridgford.

Washington took a 14-13 lead at the end of the third quarter thanks to its 6-foot-6 inch tight end, Austin Seferian-Jenkins. First, he hauled in a 43-yard pass while matched against 5-foot-9 cornerback Steve Williams. Then Seferian-Jenkins went high to snatch the ball on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Keith Price, with Williams again defending, helplessly so.

The Bears might have re-taken the lead on the subsequent drive but Vincenzo D’Amato’s 41-yard field goal try was just wide right.

The Bears scratched out a 13-7 lead late in the third quarter thanks to their surprisingly resolute defense. Linebacker Robert Mullins forced a fumble by running back Bishop Sankey that was recovered by Cal’s Nick Forbes at the Washington 36-yard line.

With the gift Cal’s offense could only manage a measly field goal, a 21-yarder, by Vincenzo D’Amato at 3:59 of the third.

Earlier, Cal gave a fine example of how its season has gone on the first drive of the third quarter – good, bad and ugly all on the same possession.

On first down at the Cal 29-yard line, Maynard threw a careless lateral to Brendan Bigelow that went uncaught, meaning it was a live ball behind the line of scrimmage. In a scramble, the ball got booted back inside the 10, where it was recovered by wide receiver Darius Powe for a hefty loss of 21 yards.

Not to worry. C.J. Anderson promptly scooted 64 yards down the sideline before he was tackled on a horse-collar penalty by safety Shaq Thompson, adding further yards to the big play.

But this being Cal, the Bears could gain just four yards and Vincenzo D’Amato came in to kick a 23-yard field goal that gave his team a 10-7 lead with 11:40 left in the third quarter. It was D’Amato’s 10th straight field goal.

Cal’s depleted defense put forth a remarkable effort in the first half to keep the game tied at 7-7 on the strength of two fourth-down stands and an interception.

Conversely, two fumbles by Cal’s Isi Sofele and Brendan Bigelow deep in Washington territory also led to the game being tied 7-7 at halftime. The Bears might have led 21-7 if not for the fumbles – but such is the way with losing teams.

Cal’s touchdown came on a brilliant piece of work by freshman wide receiver Chris Harper on a 14-yard end around. From the right side of the formation, Harper received a toss from Sofele, turned the corner and took flight from the three-yard line.

Harper soared and touched the ball to the pylon for the score with 2:46 to go until halftime.

Washington looked like it was about to take a 14-7 lead after it moved from its 28-yard line to the Cal 9. From there, quarterback Keith Price threw a pass over the middle that linebacker Nick Forbes tipped to himself at the 4-yard line for his first career interception.

John Crumpacker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jcrumpacker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @crumpackeroncal